HOMEBREW Digest #1470 Fri 08 July 1994

Digest #1469 Digest #1471


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor


Contents:
  Used Kegs (RONALD MOUCKA)
  freezer (Ulick Stafford)
  Replying to HBD (John DeCarlo              x7116          )
  recipe request (Jim Sims)
  forced kettle ventilation (S29033)
  Headspace and carbonation again (Ed Hitchcock)
  Starting lagers warm (Jim Dipalma)
  Re: How to Convert a Sanke Keg (Dion Hollenbeck)
  SS welding hint (Dion Hollenbeck)
  Mash mixing (Allen Ford)
  Evaporation adjustments (Domenick Venezia)
  Mial order list? (Lee Bollard)
  Help me make a strawberry beer (RAYMUN)
  Questions on sweeter and maltier beer (RAYMUN)
  Extraction Rates (Randy M. Davis)
  Re: Sludge in my wort (David Van Iderstine)
  Jello in Beer ("Mary Hemmings")
  Sterile ice ("Bill Knecht")
  Re: Evaporation adjustments/Dairy Malt (Jeff Benjamin)
  Calling 800 numbers. (Pierre Jelenc)
  head space/overcarbonation/stove top cleaning (Mark Gugel)
  More on Dextrin malt (Jim Busch)
  Care and feeding of a hydrometer ("Harrington, Stephen J")
  Cleaning stoves ("DEV::SJK")
  Re: A-B ads (Tom Wurtz)
  Re: A-B ads (Tom Wurtz)
  Blueberry syrup ("pratte")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 15:46:26 GMT From: rmoucka at OMN.COM (RONALD MOUCKA) Subject: Used Kegs Brew Buds, A local micro brewer has several hundred used kegs for sale. They are a bit beat up, but are selling for $20-40 depending on condition. The have Sanke valves but are the type of keg that that require a bung in the side (Golden Gate?). Can these be converted into useful boilers or used as they are by homebrewers? TIA Ron Moucka rmoucka at omn.com This message created on OMN BBS (303) 667-1149 data Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 06:36:44 -0500 (EST) From: ulick at ulix.rad.nd.edu (Ulick Stafford) Subject: freezer lperry at adoc.xerox.com asks about freezers I, and I suspect many others, use a freezer as a lger with no problems. The temperature I maintain it at is usually 40F, which is closer to the normal operating temperature of 0F than 70F would be. However I suspect you would have no problems because freezers must operate at 70F and higher (when they are intially truned on) or must be able to sit idle that warm. As for cycling, don't worry. A freezer does very little work to maintain higher temperatures. The biggest problem is keeping out the puddle of condensation and and molds. Wipe the inside time quite often with a strong bleach solution to keep the air an surfaces clean. __________________________________________________________________________ 'Heineken!?! ... F#$% that s at &* ... | Ulick Stafford, Dept of Chem. Eng. Pabst Blue Ribbon!' | Notre Dame IN 46556 | ulick at darwin.cc.nd.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 08:29:34 EST From: John DeCarlo x7116 <jdecarlo at homebrew.mitre.org> Subject: Replying to HBD In the spirit of RAYMUN at delphi.com, I am replying to the Digest <grin> If I think my answer is valuable to many, or unique in some way, or even part of a controversial discussion like this one, I am quite likely to post it to the Digest. If I expect my answer is tentative or similar to those of others, I will reply directly to the poster. Most of the readers here can probably contribute something to each question asked--would you want them *all* to post to the Digest? OTOH, you have people who answer every question posted and always post their answers to the Digest, even when their answers are of dubious quality. If I research the back Digests and only find questions, I e-mail the questioner(s) and ask for a summary of the information they got. This is only fair. The only way to get out of this later duty is to post a summary of responses you get--even if it is "the two answers in the Digest cover all the points I got in private mail". So, IMHO, don't post to the Digest unless you think: 1) Your answer is an excellent presentation of the information 2) You have some expert information worth posting 3) You want to amplify or stimulate discussion 4) You are summarizing information received in response to a question. 5) You have a question you can't answer by searching past Digests or whatever--please include all the information you have found, so people don't repeat info you already have. John DeCarlo, MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA--My views are my own Fidonet: 1:109/131 Internet: jdecarlo at mitre.org Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 08:52:26 EDT From: sims at scra.org (Jim Sims) Subject: recipe request Does anyone have a recipe Sheaf Stout? tia, jim Return to table of contents
Date: 07 Jul 1994 09:19:04 -0400 (EDT) From: S29033%22681 at utrcgw.utc.com Subject: forced kettle ventilation I mash and boil on top on my kitchen stove and use the vent hood during 2 different phases of beer making. I turn the fan on full blast when I am dumping the crushed grain into the water (temp is 160-170 F). The exhaust fan sucks out the fog of grain dust that usually results when dumping the grain into my brewpot. The second time I use the fan is when I am boiling the wort. Sometimes I do not use the fan when brewing during the winter months since I would rather have the heat and steam in the house (we have a woodstove and it gets pretty dry in the house-I brew and humidify at the same time). During the summer, the exhaust fan is a must (especially during this heat wave). I have not noticed any effect whatsoever from having the exhaust fan going during the entire boil. When I first used the fan I was wondering if the boil would take longer since I was inadvertantly removing heat with the fan. I don't believe the fan made any difference in that respect. My beer comes out delicious just the same. If there is any effect maybe the beer is actually better. I have not confirmed this though. Lance Stronk, Sikorsky Aircraft Stratford, CT. "...there we were. It was 2 against 1000...and we killed them both" Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 10:43:50 -0300 From: Ed Hitchcock <ECH at ac.dal.ca> Subject: Headspace and carbonation again Okay, how about this scenario: CO2 pressure has no direct effect on the production of CO2 by yeast metabolism, since the metabolic pathway is far to complex to be screwed up by a simple thing like high pressure of end product. Rather, pressure in general has an effect on the yeast. That is, yeast may be slightly more compressable than water, and as such as the pressure increases, the yeast drop out of suspension and settle on the bottom. On the bottom of the bottle they do a poor job of fermenting the remaining sugars, and go dormant. Now, with a smaller headspace the higher pressure is reached sooner. With a greater headspace, the yeast can chug along happily for much longer before the pressure forces them out of suspension, thus higher levels of carbonation. *--Ed Hitchcock---ech at ac.dal.ca----* Mares eat oats and does eat oats *--Anat.&Neurobio.---Dalhousie-U.--* and little lambs eat ivy. *--Halifax--NS--Can----------------* A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you? Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 09:44:48 EDT From: dipalma at sky.com (Jim Dipalma) Subject: Starting lagers warm Hi All, Bob Stovall writes: >begin primary ferment using lager >yeast in "normal, i.e., room temperatures- about 75 F, This is the second such post to appear in the digest in recent days regarding starting lager fermentations at room temperature, which compels me to respond: *DON'T* do this. Many strains of lager yeast, when pitched into wort that is over 50F, will produce elevated levels of diacetyl, more than they can reduce at the end of fermentation. Conducting a lager fermentation at temperatures over 50F will increase ester production. Sources: Miller's "Continental Pilsner", and Noonan's "Brewing Lager Beer". Lagers are supposed to ferment "clean" and "neutral", free of the flavor components that yeast contributes when fermented at warm temperatures, allowing the contributions from hops and malts to come through. The same flavor components, diacetyl, esters, etc., that make for wonderfully complex ales are considered defects in lagers. Starting a lager fermentation warm defeats the whole purpose. Spencer Thomas posted some excellent advice in HBD 1466 on starting a lager. To summarize, grow a very large starter, between 1/2 and 1 gallon, allow it to ferment out completely. Pour off most of the liquid, leaving just enough to form a slurry with the yeast sediment, and pitch that into *chilled* (45F-50F), well-aerated wort. I would add that it's best to ferment the starter at 50F also, to avoid shocking the yeast with sudden temperature change. I use this procedure with good results, I get starts in ~18 hours at 48F. It does require a bit of extra planning and care, but the additional labor is minimal, and the results are well worth it, IMHO. Cheers, Jim Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 07:07:10 PDT From: hollen at megatek.com (Dion Hollenbeck) Subject: Re: How to Convert a Sanke Keg >>>>> "Jack" == Jack Skeels <0004310587 at mcimail.com> writes: Jack> A couple of people have asked direction for converting a Sanke Jack> Keg, and while the way we did it certainly isn't the only way, Jack> IT WORKED PRETTY DARN WELL. The only other one that I Jack> considered seriously was using a Plasma torch. As in any other instance of heating stainless steel, be aware that if not cooled *immediately*, migration of the trace elements due to heat will severely embrittle SS. While a plasma torch will cut it, you still have to stop frequently to cool down the cuts if you don't want your keg to shatter when you drop it! dion Dion Hollenbeck (619)675-4000x2814 Email: hollen at megatek.com Staff Software Engineer Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 07:13:55 PDT From: hollen at megatek.com (Dion Hollenbeck) Subject: SS welding hint Previously when welding SS fitting in kegs, I have encountered "wooly black caterpillars" on the backside of the welds. I just found out that if the interior of the keg is flooded with CO2, this will not happen. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 09:38:04 -0500 (CDT) From: Allen Ford <allen at darwin.sfbr.org> Subject: Mash mixing Both Don Put and Jack Schmidling have again brought up the subject of continuous mixing of their mashes. I asked previously concerning advantages/disadvantages of such mixing and received good, thorough theoretical information from them and others. I would now request that Don, Jack, and any others who follow the mixing procedure relate their real-world experiences with it. Specifically, what differences, qualitative and quantitative, do you see between mixing the mash and not mixing, both during the brewing process and in the finished beer? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Allen L. Ford <allen at darwin.sfbr.org> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-= Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research San Antonio, Texas =-=-= Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 07:45:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Domenick Venezia <venezia at zgi.com> Subject: Evaporation adjustments - ------------------------------ > HBD #1469: From: terfintt at ttown.apci.com (Terri Terfinko) > > When I brew a 5 gallon batch I try to start my boil with 6.5 >gallons to allow for the evaporation during boil. When I calculate >recipes and extraction points for all grain batches, should I use >the 6.5 or 5 gallon number? I just brewed a pale ale with 9 >pounds of grain and a SG of 1.050 After the boil, I had 5 gallons >of wort. I calculated my extraction points at either 50/9/5 =27 >points or 50/9/6.5 = 36 points. Any advice on these calculations >would be appreciated. In the spirit of public disclosure over private email... You could calculate the extraction efficiency at either point provided your numbers are consistent, that is the SG is of the volume in question. The SG of the 5 gals of wort was 1.050 for a 27.8 pt extraction but the SG of the 6.5 gals was lower, probably around 1.038 (27.4 pts). So, using your notation: 50/9/5 = 38/9/6.5 = 27+. I generally take a number of volume and SG readings during brewing, just after the sparge, just after the boil, after the primary, and after the secondary. This gives me a good idea of what is going on with my process at each step and overall. Cheers! Domenick Venezia ZymoGenetics, Inc. Seattle, WA venezia at zgi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 8:06:59 PDT From: Lee Bollard <bollard at spk.hp.com> Subject: Mial order list? Where is the list of mail-order homebrew vendors? I heard it was in the OLD cats_meow (in the appendix), but only the NEW cats_meow is on the ftp server (sierra.stanford.edu). Is there a mail-order vendor list in another file? Anyone care to supply me with the best homebrew mail-order suppliers names and phone numbers? TIA Regards, Lee Bollard bollard at spk.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 11:06:46 -0400 (EDT) From: RAYMUN at delphi.com Subject: Help me make a strawberry beer I am looking at brewing a strawberry beer, and could any of you throw in your 2 cents? Any one got any strawberry recipes? Beer not mead! Poundage wise, what would be a good amount of strawberries to use to get the taste of strawberries to be noticed, but not overpowering? Are there any drawbacks to using strawberries? I have use raspberries with no problems. Raymun at delphi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 11:10:08 -0400 (EDT) From: RAYMUN at delphi.com Subject: Questions on sweeter and maltier beer Can someone correct me if I am misunderstanding this theroy. If I want to make a beer sweeter, do I use grains that have NO emzymes? Or a grain that has no fermentable sugars? And on the same point, if I want a beer that has more of a MALT taste would I again use a grain that is low or have no emzymes or one that has a lot? Raymun at delphi.com P.S. If this message is double spaced, forgive me. I have no clue why, because as I am typing this I'm typing in single space. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 9:17:17 MDT From: Randy M. Davis <rmdavis at mocan.mobil.com> Subject: Extraction Rates Terri Terfinko writes: >When I brew a 5 gallon batch I try to start my boil with 6.5 >gallons to allow for the evaporation during boil. When I calculate >recipes and extraction points for all grain batches, should I use >the 6.5 or 5 gallon number? I just brewed a pale ale with 9 >pounds of grain and a SG of 1.050 After the boil, I had 5 gallons >of wort. I calculated my extraction points at either 50/9/5 =27 >points or 50/9/6.5 = 36 points. In the above example, the only calculation of any use is the one using the values of 50, 9 and 5. You only measured the gravity after the boil so the calculation using 6.5 gallons is incorrect. If you had measured the gravity prior to the boil, you would have measured a value lower that 1.050 and the resulting rate of extraction would have been different. I would guess that the result would be very close to 27 points. My personal feeling is that the amount of material in the final volume at pitching time is what counts. Using that value I can compare results between batches where I have changed the batch size, used more or less sparge water, changed the sparge water temperature etc. If you prefer to calculate extraction prior to boiling you will have to measure the gravity in the initial volume to get meaningful results. - -- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Randy M. Davis: Mobil Oil Canada Calgary, Alberta Canada | | rmdavis at mocan.mobil.com | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 10:18:13 EDT From: orgasm!davevi at uunet.uu.net (David Van Iderstine) Subject: Re: Sludge in my wort Jeff Donnelly sez: >OK so it's not sludge but it looks like it. Here's my problem: >After I'm done boiling my extract based wort for about an hour, I filter >the wort into the fermenter. Since I started using my new funnel with the >built in filter, it clogs 9 or 10 times per 5 gallon batch. The filter >is fairly small and the "clog" is a very fine impenetrable goop. I have >to stop pooring, rinse the filter and continue. Besides the annoyance >of this process I don't like chancing contamination so often. >Other information: > I use both bittering and hop pellots, the latter added in the > last 5 minutes of boil. > I cool the wort before filtering > I add grains(in bag) until just before the water boils > >What is this stuff I'm filtering out and is it something I want to > keep or get rid of? >Do I need a no filter, a different filter, or a prefilter? >Any other clues or suggestions. I didn't know what it was either until I got to the line describing hop _pellets_. Convenient as they are, these little suckers are HELL to put through a filter! I have the same funnel w/strainer and the same exact problem. Here's my $0.02 in the form of 3 alternate suggestions: 1). sterilize your hands (or some other agitator) and, when the clogging begins, keep moving around the layer of crud on the filter (this works, but not well). 2). just pour the whole mess into the primary. The ground-up hops can be left in the primary (mostly) when you rack to the secondary. This does affect the flavor however, like dry-hopping would. At the risk of hanging massive FlameBait (tm) out, my experience in letting the plugs into the primary produced a nice dry-hopped flavor to the beer. The hangup is you're also letting your bittering hops into the primary, and the hops flavor profile must be adjusted since you're leaving the hops in contact with the wort for so long. My guess is the boiled bittering hops will do little to the flavor from being left in the primary; the aromatic hops will do LOTS to the flaovr; start small here and build up (like a half ounce). 3). This is my preferred solution. Forget those (sadly convenient) pellets and use whole hop flowers instead. These babies give me little trouble in the funnel strainer that a long spoon can't solve. And with whole hop flowers, it's very easy to tell if they're fresh or not-if the "powder" in the bag is yellow, they're fine; if it's orange, they're compost! (Well, maybe that's extreme, but they're definitely on their way out.) For Ben Piela: For your hop crud, either switch to whole hops, or when bottling rack out of the secondary to another vessel before bottling (you should always do this anyway, to get the beer away from the yeast sediment). On your second question-you can cut back to as little as 1/2 cup of corn sugar and get good results, but I'm a little suprised at your results. I've used 3/4 cup when I was in a hurry for the "final product" without having bottle bombs. Was that amount added to 5 gallons, or to some smaller amount? Dave Van Iderstine davevi at pharlap.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 9:24:59 MDT From: "Mary Hemmings" <mhemming at acs.ucalgary.ca> Subject: Jello in Beer I'm rather new to brewing (but getting better). The fellow at my supply shop told me that Jello has been known to be used for "Kriek" style beers - he couldn't tell me more, as he'd never tried it himself. But he did say it was used at the fining stage (because of the gelatine). Has anyone tried this?.... I'm making plans for Holiday batches & would like a little guidance. By the way, I noticed Karl Lutzen's published beer-making book at the books store two-weeks ago. It's an updated, expanded version of Cat's Meow - really nice! Plan to get my own copy. - -- Mary Hemmings Technical Services Librarian Law Library University of Calgary Voice: (403) 220-6577 Fax: (403) 282-3000 e-mail: mhemming at acs.ucalgary.ca Post-Haste: 2500 University Drive N.W. Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 10:33:58 CDT From: "Bill Knecht" <knecht at mind.psych.umn.edu> Subject: Sterile ice In keeping with the concept of posting summary results of questions, here's a summary of the replies to my question about using sterile ice to cool wort. Tupperware or Rubbermaid containers are reported to be resistent to boiling water, as are some of the plastic souvenir drink glasses from fast food restaurants (thanks Bob Fawcett & John DeCarlo). There was some concern that I was maybe over-complexifying things, and that simply immersing the wort pot in lots of cool water would be safer and easier (thanks Michael Lobo). There was also concern that ice might contain oxygen, and so create a Hot Side Aeration problem (thanks Mark Childers). This last observation got me thinking. If the water were boiled, would most of the oxygen go out of it? Then if a container were completely filled and then sealed with a lid, would it be possible to make sterile ice with very little O2 in it? Comments anyone? Please also let me know if you agree with Michael that sterile ice might be overkill. Somewhere in the back of my mind lurks this notion that there ought to be an easy way to balance easy & rapidity of cooling with maintenance of sanitization, without the need for expensive, bulky equipment. I can taste what I believe to be an ever-so-slight "cardboard taste" in my extract beer, and my latest Quest is to eliminate this without increasing my risk of infection. Bill Knecht University of Minnesota .................................................................... .^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. . William Knecht (knecht at mind.psych.umn.edu) . . ...and now for your randomly-selected quotation... . .................................................................... "When you consider what a chance women have to poison their hus- bands, it's a wonder there isn't more of it done." Kin Hubbard Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 10:07:45 MDT From: Jeff Benjamin <benji at hpfcbug.fc.hp.com> Subject: Re: Evaporation adjustments/Dairy Malt Terry Terfinko writes: > When I brew a 5 gallon batch I try to start my boil with 6.5 > gallons to allow for the evaporation during boil. When I calculate > recipes and extraction points for all grain batches, should I use > the 6.5 or 5 gallon number? I just brewed a pale ale with 9 > pounds of grain and a SG of 1.050. After the boil, I had 5 gallons > of wort. I calculated my extraction points at either 50/9/5 =27 > points or 50/9/6.5 = 36 points. The volume of wort and the gravity need to be measured at the same time. If you do so, the extraction rate should read about the same either before or after the boil (not exactly the same, but close enough for most of us). I assume that the 1.050 gravity was measure after the boil, so your extraction was 27 pt/lb/gal. 36 is getting close to the theoretical limit for some malts, and we'd all be clamoring for your procedure :-). I usually measure the volume and gravity *before* the boil. That way I know how much to let evaporate to reach my target gravity. Let's say I get 6 gal of sweet wort at 1.040. This gives me 240 total "gravity points". If my target gravity is 50 (i.e. 1.050), then my final volume should be 240/50, or 4.8 gals. Alternately, if I want 5 gals for my keg, my final gravity will be 240/5 = 48, or 1.048. Lee Bertagnolli asks: > What is the difference between the malt extract powder we use in our hobby > and the "malt" powder that Dairy Queen and other ice cream novelty vendors > put into their "malts?" The "malt" powder probably contains sugar, stabilizers, milk solids, and other things we don't want in our beer. They sell similar stuff in the grocery store right next to the Nestle Quik mix; it's labeled "Instant Malted Milk" or some such. A large component is dried malt extract, but there are all sorts of other things in there to sweeten it, keep it from clumping, etc. Take a look at the ingredient label next time you're in the store. That aside, it's probably even more expensive by weight than brewer's dry malt extract. - -- Jeff Benjamin benji at fc.hp.com Hewlett Packard Co. Fort Collins, Colorado "Midnight shakes the memory as a madman shakes a dead geranium." - T.S. Eliot Return to table of contents
Date: 05 Jul 1994 08:09:01 GMT From: Pierre Jelenc <pcj1 at columbia.edu> Subject: Calling 800 numbers. In Homebrew Digest #1469, Simon_W._Bedwell at metro.mactel.org (Simon W. Bedwell) asks << I have a problem. I'd like to subscribe to 'Brewing Techniques' magazine, but I've only got their toll-free 800 number. Why is that a problem you ask? Well, I live in the UK and we can't call US 800 numbers from here. >> Actually you can (although you will have to pay for it). From the UK, or any other country that has a "USA direct" dialling scheme, you do as follows: Call the US operator on the direct number, and ask to place a call to an 800 number. Caveats: The company you call must be the one that provides the 800 service that you want to call. If you don't know which it is (typically ATT, MCI, or Sprint), you may have to try all three, and hope that it is not a tiny local company. "USA direct" is the ATT name for the service. Other companies probably have other names for it. The ATT number in the UK is 0800-89-0011. I don't know the others but your local telco should be able to give them to you. Pierre Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 12:26:39 EDT From: Mark Gugel <mdgugel at mtu.edu> Subject: head space/overcarbonation/stove top cleaning Carbonation Thank you Chris Pittock for giving us CO2 in a nut shell. Chris is right on track when he states that a vital piece of the puzzle has been missed. Adding wort (or corn sugar) to the priming bucket can give virtually the same amonut of carbonation to each bottle - and will be much less sensitive to whether there is the head space is one inch or two inches. A further advantage of this technique is that a larger volume is used, thereby allowing for more accurate measurement. It's easier to measure 1 1/4 cups +or- 5% to a 5 gallon batch than it is to add 1/2 tsp +or- 5% to each of 40 pint bottles. I don't waste any of my precious brew, I often have a 1/2 full bottle. Aside from differences in the the PFFFFFT factor (noted by Spencor of Ann Arbor and JRT) I don`t notice any difference from the 1/2 full bottles to the full bottles - and its the beer poured into my glass that counts. Stove top Because I don`t see my response sent yesterday, I'll try again. I use aluminum foil (reusable) shiny side up on my kitchen stove. It does a wonderful job of reducing the amont of scorching on the stove top. I still need do do some scrubbing, but not nearly as much. Mark D. Gugel Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 12:35:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Jim Busch <busch at daacdev1.stx.com> Subject: More on Dextrin malt I wrote about my opinions: >Dextrin malt is useless, or at least not required and Norm wrote: Tell that (the dextrin malt comment) to the people who brew the classic American pale ale, Sierra Nevada. A recent trip to the local HB store brought the following comment: "the 30L crystal is the same as CaraVienne". Of course, the dextrin malt was labelled "Dextrin", the carapils was labelled "Carapils", the munich was labelled "Munich", but the caravienne was labelled "30L crystal". Hmmm. In my opinion, the use of dextrin malt is not required. The same effects can be done in the mash tun, and with other malts. While Sierra may have there reasons for economy of scale/process, I feel that homebrewers can get better results from other malts and mashing programs. If you ever taste a beer high in US dextrin malt and low in hopping rates, the cloying sweetness can be overpowering. The specs for CaraVienne are usually closer to 22 lovi. Who makes "30L crystal"? Good brewing, Jim Busch Return to table of contents
Date: 7 Jul 1994 09:53:54 -0800 From: "Harrington, Stephen J" <sharrington at msmail4.hac.com> Subject: Care and feeding of a hydrometer Hi All! After a year and a half of extract brewing, I have been inspired by this noble publication to embark upon all-grain brewing (I am going to start with a partial mash just to get the technique down). Up until now I have not bothered taking specific gravitity readings (hey, if it tastes good, who cares about the details). This has worked fine for me. However, it seems now that these readings are important for me to know when to stop sparging and all those other high-tech things I haven't had to worry about up until now. I am looking for the collective wisdom of all to aid me in determining when the important time to take these readings is. In light of all the recent comments regarding 'stealth' answers to questions, I will post a summary of all answers I receive privately. Regarding heat resistant plastic containers: I have used this technique with success. I bought the absolute cheapest container I could find of the size I wanted and simply pour the boiling water in it, cover it, let it cool then freeze. It seems to withstand the heat with no ill effects. When I am ready to use it, I float it in the water bath which I will place my boiling kettle in for about 5 minutes. This melts the outside of the cube (with the added feature of chilling the bath) and it very easily pops out and into the wort. After 15 minutes I find I am at pitching temperatures. I know it isn't as high-tech as the fancy wort chillers, but hey, I am always looking for the lazy way out. Return to table of contents
Date: 7 Jul 94 13:23:00 CST From: "DEV::SJK" <SJK%DEV.decnet at mdcgwy.mdc.com> Subject: Cleaning stoves Richard Childers in #1469 suggests that steel wool is useful for removing burnt wort from your stovetop and that it will not scratch the enamel if you're careful. I can't speak for Richard's stove, but I would caution against this as I was quite successful at scratching mine with a light application of an SOS pad (as he recommends). I'd test first on an inconspicuous spot. I've found that oven cleaner applied VERY carefully works well. I use newspaper for shields, particularly around my aluminum grill or the gas lines exposed when my burner shields are removed. Scott Kaczorowski sjk%c17fcs.decnet at mdcgwy.mdc.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 09:59:54 MDT From: twurtz at neocad.com (Tom Wurtz) Subject: Re: A-B ads Keith Frank, keithfrank at dow.com writes .... > Teddy Winstead, winstead%brauerei at cs.tulane.edu asks... >>Does anyone know if the AHA made a statement to Budweiser in regards >>to their Bud Light ad? I realize that there may be some conflict >>here, since the AHA is part of the Ass. of Brewer's, which undoubtedly >>includes the evil Bud ones, but does anyone else think that something >>should be said? >I agree that something should be said. For those HBDer's who haven't >heard the A-B ad in question, allow me to briefly outline it. It basically >goes as follows: >1st guy says, "Hey, try this pumpernickel stout. I brewed it myself." >2nd guy says, "What's that chunk floating in there?" >1st guy says, "Oh just try it. I saved this last bottle just for you." >2nd guy says, "Oh that's ok, I'll just have this Bud Light. You drink > the stout." >The commercial leaves you with the impression that both guys want the >Bud Light. > I recently heard this on a Houston radio station. I wrote a letter to >August Busch III in which I told him that it pleased me that we humble >homebrewers were perceived as such a threat that A-B felt they had to >spend their advertising dollars attacking us. I haven't received a reply >and really don't look for one. I wouldn't. I'm going to take a moment to share a theory I have about this that I've been spouting at parties lately. Miller and Coors have entered the craft brew arena with Miller's reserve series and Coors' seasonal brews, Eisebock and now Weizen. They saw the market for high end beers and went right to it, figuring to compete with the Sam Adams' of the world. Bud on the other hand saw it and went the opposite direction. Instead of competing with the micros and regionals, they're gonna buy em up. Case in point is the recent 15% ownership and distribution agreement with Red Hook. If they position themselves as the "brewery that still makes the standard swill and we're damn proud of it," they don't lose anything and actually it makes sense to try to make the separation more pronounced. So the ads are a cheap shot at homebrewers, face it we are easy targets. Most of us fail to produce excellent beer 100% of the time and we are proud of our creations, sometimes blinding us to the real quality level of our beers.*** The shot isn't really at us, it's really at the micro's. Bud wants to try to make Joe lunchbox smuggly happy that he isn't jumping on the craft brew bandwagon, because that means he continues to buy Bud. Bud knows that folks like us aren't going to be buying a sixer of Budmilloors, why even try to attract us. The extra added bonus is that while Miller and Coors are changing their processes and marketing strategies to fight an uphill battle to try to convince us that they can brew quality beer, Bud doesn't have to do anything but sit back and watch the money roll in from Red Hook, etc... Summary, the ads suck, but in a free-market capitalist society they make perfect sense. *** Okay so most of us here on the digest probably are close to 100% and are pretty non-biased, but I've known plenty of folks who brew/have brewed with much lower success and lower objectivity. Tom wurtz at neocad.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 09:59:54 MDT From: twurtz at neocad.com (Tom Wurtz) Subject: Re: A-B ads Keith Frank, keithfrank at dow.com writes .... > Teddy Winstead, winstead%brauerei at cs.tulane.edu asks... >>Does anyone know if the AHA made a statement to Budweiser in regards >>to their Bud Light ad? I realize that there may be some conflict >>here, since the AHA is part of the Ass. of Brewer's, which undoubtedly >>includes the evil Bud ones, but does anyone else think that something >>should be said? >I agree that something should be said. For those HBDer's who haven't >heard the A-B ad in question, allow me to briefly outline it. It basically >goes as follows: >1st guy says, "Hey, try this pumpernickel stout. I brewed it myself." >2nd guy says, "What's that chunk floating in there?" >1st guy says, "Oh just try it. I saved this last bottle just for you." >2nd guy says, "Oh that's ok, I'll just have this Bud Light. You drink > the stout." >The commercial leaves you with the impression that both guys want the >Bud Light. > I recently heard this on a Houston radio station. I wrote a letter to >August Busch III in which I told him that it pleased me that we humble >homebrewers were perceived as such a threat that A-B felt they had to >spend their advertising dollars attacking us. I haven't received a reply >and really don't look for one. I wouldn't. I'm going to take a moment to share a theory I have about this that I've been spouting at parties lately. Miller and Coors have entered the craft brew arena with Miller's reserve series and Coors' seasonal brews, Eisebock and now Weizen. They saw the market for high end beers and went right to it, figuring to compete with the Sam Adams' of the world. Bud on the other hand saw it and went the opposite direction. Instead of competing with the micros and regionals, they're gonna buy em up. Case in point is the recent 15% ownership and distribution agreement with Red Hook. If they position themselves as the "brewery that still makes the standard swill and we're damn proud of it," they don't lose anything and actually it makes sense to try to make the separation more pronounced. So the ads are a cheap shot at homebrewers, face it we are easy targets. Most of us fail to produce excellent beer 100% of the time and we are proud of our creations, sometimes blinding us to the real quality level of our beers.*** The shot isn't really at us, it's really at the micro's. Bud wants to try to make Joe lunchbox smuggly happy that he isn't jumping on the craft brew bandwagon, because that means he continues to buy Bud. Bud knows that folks like us aren't going to be buying a sixer of Budmilloors, why even try to attract us. The extra added bonus is that while Miller and Coors are changing their processes and marketing strategies to fight an uphill battle to try to convince us that they can brew quality beer, Bud doesn't have to do anything but sit back and watch the money roll in from Red Hook, etc... Summary, the ads suck, but in a free-market capitalist society they make perfect sense. *** Okay so most of us here on the digest probably are close to 100% and are pretty non-biased, but I've known plenty of folks who brew/have brewed with much lower success and lower objectivity. Tom wurtz at neocad.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 16:13:31 EST From: "pratte" <PRATTE at GG.csc.peachnet.edu> Subject: Blueberry syrup In Tuesday's HBD (sorry it took so long, but I've been vacuuming the water from the floods out of my basement), Kirk Harralson brings up the question of using blueberry syrup in his beer. I've used similar syrups several times, with excellent results. The syrups in question have no artificial ingredients, just blueberry juice and maybe some corn syrup (often get them at the State Farmer's Market). I can't tell the difference between the beers made with syrup and those made with berries. In fact, I recently bottled a raspberry wheat beer made with only 8 oz. of syrup that has a very strong raspberry flavor. As long as there are no other additives that sound nasty, I would say "Go for it". John Pratte Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1470, 07/08/94